Freeing the Songbird
by mslady17
Summary: The Joker and the Scarecrow have found themselves a new pet to play with after Polly. Polly is going to make sure she doesn't become another statistic. A sequel of sorts to Polly by LilthXasthur. *MASS EDITING IN PROGRESS*
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Right. This is my first Batman/Dark Knight fic. I read Polly by LilthXasthur and I was inspired to write a sequel of sorts to it. If you haven't read Polly, you don't really need to for my story, but I would recommend you do since it's awesome. So without much else to say, here's Freeing the Songbird.

Credit: I don't own the Joker or the Scarecrow, they belong to DC Comics. And to prevent me from getting pimp slapped: I also don't own Polly, she belongs to Val aka LilthXasthur.

Enjoy!

* * *

Polly was dead. She knew she was, but why in the hell was she stuck here? Here, in this house where she spent the last few months of her life being beaten, raped, and tortured by those two sick criminals who ultimately ended her life. The Joker and the Scarecrow. Oh, they were there. No one knew where their hideout was or at least anyone alive that is.

When Polly first saw them, she tried to attack them, only to find that it went right through them or would only give them a chill where she attacked. Occasionally she was able to pick up stuff and throw it across the room, but they never seemed to notice or care. She spent most of her time just watching them, silently observing. She learned what their habits were and what they did all those times when they were upstairs. The Joker for example would take the newspapers, cut out the photos, and draw on them like a little kid, he would play darts with his knives occasionally, using a photo of Batman's head on the wall as a target, or watch the news. The Scarecrow, or Johnny as he was called by the Joker, would watch old shows like Leave It to Beaver or I Dream of Genie or read some type of classical piece of literature or psychology/medical journal. Both of them would occasionally make bombs and other types of weapons of destruction on the kitchen table or make up plans (that was more of Johnny's job) as to what they would do next.

She also noticed that they didn't kidnap any more girls after she was killed. She doubted they were mournful of her death, they probably 1.) thought it was too much of a hassle keeping her barely alive and didn't want to do that again or 2.) they hadn't found their target yet. That changed when after one night.

After a successful (if you want to call it that) day of causing chaos and mayhem on the city of Gotham. The pair of criminals decided to settle down on the couch and watch the media's recap of their paths of destruction and how the DA and the Gotham police were going to catch the Joker and the Scarecrow and bring them to justice. It apparently boosted their egos when they made the top stories. So the Joker flipped it onto one of his favorite news channels, Gotham City News.

"Good evening Gotham." the news anchor began. "Tonight is a very special night. Tonight we're not going to talk about the tragedies that have fallen our beloved city today." he announced.

"WHAT!" the Joker complained, just itching to throw a knife or shoot at the TV screen. Johnny just sat there on the couch listening to what the news anchor was saying.

"Instead of our usual newscast," the news anchor continued, "we are honored to broadcast a live debut of a special event occurring at the Gotham Opera House. The Gotham Opera is performing a concert to raise money to rebuild Gotham General Hospital and the Gotham Police Station, and to help support the families of the police officers who risked their lives in order to protect the citizens of Gotham. So with out further ado, I'd like to present to you the Gotham Opera starring, the Prima Donna and Sweetheart of Gotham, Elaine Dumont and the Gotham Orchestra." There was applause as the TV screen faded to an empty thrust stage and a live audience. The sounds of soft and somber organ and violins began to play the introduction.

"Great. Now we have to watch a fat lady sing in a boisterous voice in a language I can't even understand." The Joker once again complained as the music began and the audience was silent. Johnny didn't listen to what the Joker was saying; he liked classical music and actually was interested in hearing the so-called "Prima Donna of Gotham" sing.

"You never know Joker; you may actually find classical music to be quite enjoyable." Johnny commented as a silhouette walked up toward the spotlight.

"Psh. Yeah right, and that will be the day when I-" his thoughts were interrupted by the sound and vision he was experiencing from the television. There on the TV was the Prima Donna of the Gotham Opera, Elaine Dumont. She was a vision; she was a petite brunette in a white dress that showed off her voluptuous curves toned by years of ballet dancing and eyes like shining emeralds. Her voice wasn't like either one had ever heard before. It was pure and light, and could make the gods weep for its beauty. She was singing the Pie Jesu by Gabriel Faure in honor of the fallen police officers. The music seemed to flow through her and possess her entire being for when she sang; even the two hardened criminals watching were slightly softened by her performance.

Once the song was finished, the stage darkened and the sound of a lone violin could be heard. Then the sounds of voices "la-ing" to the melody. Shadows could be seen walking with candles onto the front of the stage. Once the shadows are in a line across the center of the stage, it's obvious from the candle light that there are five women wearing floor length, corset top, white dresses, Elaine in the center of the group. She starts to sing:

_High is the moon tonight. __Hiding its guiding light. High. Heaven and earth do sleep. Still in the dark so deep. I will the darkness sweep. I will the moon to flight. I will the heavens bright. I will the earth delight. Open your eyes with me. See paradise with me. Awake and arise with me_

There was a crescendo in the music and the stage lights rose and you could see the stage clearer. The women blew out their candles and laid them on the floor. It was as if the morning sun was rising inside the theater. The women continued.

_I am the dawn, I'm the new day begun. I bring you the morning, I bring you the sun. I hold back the night and I open the skies. I give light to the world, I give sight to your eyes. From the first of all time, until time is undone. Forever and ever and ever and ever. And I am the dawn and the sky and the sun. I am one with the One, and I am the dawn_

The tempo of the song began to speed up; a man with a violin comes up onto the stage and starts to dance around the stage while playing the violin solo. Elaine also dances along with the violin soloist, doing. Then the chorus that was behind the five women joins in to finish the song.

_I am the sky and the dawn and the sun. I am the sky and the new day begun. I am the sky and the dawn and the sun_

Once the song was finished the new anchor came on and commented about the first set of the charity event. "That was the lovely Elaine DuMont singing Pie Jesu from Gabriel Faure's Requiem in honor of the fallen police officers. She was in also featured in The Sky And The Dawn And The Sky made famous by the group, Celtic Woman. For those of you watching at home who want to see Elaine and her singing ability for yourselves, she will be performing as Violetta Valéry in the Gotham Opera's production of Verdi's La Traviata starting next weekend. Miss DuMont, at the age of 20, will be the youngest singer in the Gotham Opera's history to perform the role of Violetta. We'll be back after this short commercial break." Then the station went to a commercial break. Both of the criminals who watched this were speechless. One was amazed at how beautiful the Prima Donna was and how enchanting her voice was. The other from throbbing pain of an erection hardening that was caused by the girl on the TV.

"So uh. That was uh, very enlightening. Never thought opera could be so uh…interesting." the Joker commented.

"Uh, huh." Johnny groaned out, still staring at the screen and trying to ignore the pain down below. Never in his life had he seen a woman like her and with a voice of an angel to go with it. He wanted her. He wanted her so badly; it was painful to think about it. The Joker felt the same way, but was better at controlling his urges than his partner in crime.

"Have any plans for this weekend, Johnny?" the Joker asked.

Johnny had finally calmed down his urges enough to be able to have a normal conversation with the Joker. ""Besides the usual, no. Why?"

The Joker looked over at Johnny and grinned his signature smile. "I think it's time we took the time to culture ourselves." The Joker reached over and patted Johnny on the shoulder. "I also think it's time we got ourselves a new pet. A songbird, perhaps." The Joker started to laugh and once Johnny caught on to the joke he started to laugh as well. Once the commercial break was over, they were down to giggles and eventually were quite so they could watch the rest of the show, leering lustfully every time Elaine was in the screen.

Polly, who watched the whole thing from the chair next to the couch, was angry and sad. She really wished she had the energy to pick up and throw something at the Joker to wipe that smile off his face. Poor girl. She didn't know it yet, but she was going to end up being another death caused by the Joker and the Scarecrow. Just like Polly. But not if Polly could help it. Polly, as she glared at the pair on the couch, swore that she was going to save this girl from being part of the statistics. She was going to do everything in her power to save Elaine from these two.


	2. Chapter 2

The charity concert was a success. There was enough money to rebuild both the hospital and the police station, then give the families of the police officers who died enough money to last them a while until they could get back on their feet. It was amazing to Elaine how well the turn out for the event was after everyone found out the Joker and the Scarecrow teamed up and was out causing mayhem and destruction. It just goes to show that the people of Gotham weren't afraid of them anymore. She was actually pleasantly surprised that the two didn't crash the concert. All the big time people such as the mayor and his entourage, Commissioner Gordon with his wife, and even Bruce Wayne came to watch the concert (with two sticks who call themselves models by his side as usual).

The one thing that bugged her though was that everyone thought of her as the "Prima Donna", the "Sweetheart", the "Songstress", and worse of all the "Light" of Gotham. Sure she was a good singer and she was the new lead soprano of the opera house, but c'mon she's not the best singer in the world. She sure didn't think she was the prettiest either. She thought she was awkward looking compared to the other girls in the opera house. She wasn't flirty or have boys asking her out every weekend. In fact, she was considered socially awkward by the others in the opera house unless she was rehearsing or performing. Outside of the stage, she was a wallflower.

She wasn't sure why the media liked her so much, she hadn't done anything to change the world or given anything to those less fortunate. Nothing like Harvey Dent, the Lord may rest his soul, or Commissioner Gordon, heck even Bruce Wayne has done more charitable things than her. She was just a soprano for the Gotham Opera, nothing special. The only thing close to being charitable she has done is volunteer for a music mentoring program for kids down at the Gotham Orphanage, but that's just for fun.

Elaine was pondering these thoughts at the after party she was required to attend; some pay more money to meet the singers after show, a meet and greet if you will. She never really liked these types of things, especially when she was a child. Her parents were singers as well, they were opera singers in France then they moved here when Elaine was born (hence the French name Elaine DuMont). Then they became opera singers at the Gotham Opera when they renovated it. She could remember going to these parties with her parents all the time when all she wanted to do was go home and try to sing the high notes for Der Holle Rache from the Magic Flute, her favorite opera back then. She smiled at the memory.

Back to the present situation. So she left the foyer of the opera house where most of the party guests were with the excuse that she needed some fresh air. She then walked out to the garden outside the opera house, made in honor of the wife of the first owner of the Gotham Opera House when she died and kept up by the following owners, Marguerite was her name. It was Elaine's favorite place to walk around, especially now when the spring nights were warming up and the moon was full and shining its ethereal glow onto the lush greenery surrounding her.

"It's beautiful out tonight isn't it?" a voice behind Elaine commented.

A smile crept onto Elaine's face as she replied. "You say that every time I come out here, Marguerite." She turned to the specter behind her. "And as always, I agree. Your husband really did love you, didn't he?"

What few people knew about Elaine was that she's a medium. She can see and talk to ghost pretty much. She first found it out when she saw Marguerite in the very same garden she was in now when she was a child.

_A six year old Elaine was sitting on the bench in the center of the garden, crying. Her parents had just broken the news to her that Mémé_ _(her grandmother who came with her parents to Gotham) had died. When she felt a shift in the air that made her stop crying._

_There on the pathway was a woman who looked like she was in her 50s in a weird dress staring at her with sad eyes. "Hello." Elaine greeted as she tried to stop crying._

"_Hello little girl, what your name?" the woman asked as she walked over to the bench where Elaine was sitting._

"_Elaine." the little girl replied as she tried to dry her tears. She probably shouldn't be talking to strangers and her parents were probably worried about her since she ran off when they told her about Mémé. Although this lady seemed very kind, even though she was wearing some weird clothes._

"_Elaine. What a pretty name for a pretty young girl. My name is Marguerite. Why are you crying, Elaine?" Marguerite asked as she sat next to Elaine on the bench._

_When Marguerite asked Elaine that question, the little girl started to cry again. "My papa said that Mémé's dead and I'm sad that I'm never going to see her again." she sobbed. Elaine held onto Marguerite as her body shook and cried into her chest. Marguerite held laid a hand on the top of her head and her back and stroked the little girl's long curly brown locks._

"_There, there dearie. It's alright. You'll see your Mémé again in time. She's in a better place now, she's in heaven dearie." Marguerite soothed._

_Elaine let go of Marguerite, wiping her tears with her sleeve, she asked "What's heaven like?"_

_Marguerite smiled at the little girl's curiosity. "Oh, it's a wonderful place. A place where you never have any want or need, a beautiful place where you never have a care or worry. It is truly paradise."_

"_Really?" Elaine's emerald green eyes widened with wonder. Surely her Mémé would be happy in heaven, it did sound like a wonderful place. Elaine wanted to go there too._

_Marguerite laughed at the innocence of the child. It was a shame she never had children, she would have wanted them to be just like this little one. "Yes, really."_

_Just when Elaine was about to ask another question, she heard her mother yelling for her. They must really have been worried. "Elaine, mon chéri!" Elaine's mother yelled as she turned the corner to see find her daughter. "Elaine, you had me worried sick. You know you're not supposed outside without an adult," she chided as she held onto her daughter._

_Elaine was confused. Didn't her mother see Marguerite? "Maman, I'm not alone. I'm with Marguerite."_

_Her mother looked at her weirdly. "Elaine, who's Marguerite?"_

"_The lady sitting next to me. Can't you see her maman?"_

"_Mon chéri, there's no one sitting next to you."_

Later on, Elaine learned about Marguerite, how she was the wife of the first owner of the Gotham Opera House who died of tuberculosis during the White Plague. She loved the opera house so much, she decided to stay and watch over it. Instead of being afraid of the ghost of Marguerite, she became friends with her and many of the other ghosts who "haunt" (Elaine would say live in) the Gotham Opera House. There's one who was obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera and would do the whole Mirror scene with Elaine (he would even show up in the mirror which freaked Elaine out at first).

"Yes I do, because it always is beautiful. Just like you've grown up to be, Elaine," Marguerite observed, "You did very well tonight."

"Thank you Marguerite, even though I'm now called "The Light of Gotham" and a bunch of other crazy names that the media has concocted," she sighed as she sat in the bench where she first met Marguerite.

"Well, you kind of are. From what you've told me about what goes on outside the opera house. It would seem like your singing and cheerfulness has given the people a sense of hope and happiness. It's something good to think about instead of all this mess with the Jester and the Tin Man," Marguerite explained.

Elaine laughed. "It's the Joker and the Scarecrow, Margie," she pondered for a moment, then put her face in her hands and sighed, "As if I don't have enough on my plate."

Seeing how much this stressed the girl, Marguerite sat next to Elaine, calming her with her ghostly and maternal "powers." "Don't worry about it, Elaine. Just go home and get some rest. You have tomorrow off, then it's rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. You have less than a week till La Traviata. You don't want to disappoint your 'adoring' fans with a mediocre Violetta, do you?"

Elaine lifted her head and smiled. "No, I don't. You're right Margie. I just need some rest. Thanks," she turned to the ghost and gave her a hug. She stood up, "I'll see you later, Margie."

"Take care, Elaine. Don't let that Prima Donna head of yours get too big now," she laughed and Elaine walked off out of the garden to head to her dressing room to get her stuff and go home.

Once in her dressing room, she noticed all of the flowers and gifts covering it. Now that she noticed it, a lot of purple flowers and green teddy bears, "Wow," she thought, "One night on live TV and you get more flowers and gifts than you have all your life as an opera singer." She chuckled at the thought. She started to look at the cards but when she sat down on her vanity and saw something that made her blood go cold.

Sitting on her vanity, was a violet rose with a lime green ribbon holding a jester playing card. His calling card. On the back was a note.

_~To the beautiful nightingale,_

_When I look at your sexy body-_

_I just want to take off all those cloths_

_that always seems to make me more crazy for your sexy love_

_And when I look at your sexy body-_

_I just want to touch you all over_

_and never stop until the Lord tells me to._

_This sexy love that we have_

_makes me more and more crazy for your lovely sex_

_So touch me, hug me, and then I'll start to go crazy and bang you until midnight has gone by _

_~ J. and S._

_P.S. Your sing pretty._

"Ok then…" Elaine thought as she looked over the note. She grabbed her cell phone and thought about calling the police. She punched the numbers in, but decided to hang up. This was obviously a prank by some of the guys in the company. Besides, why would the Joker and the Scarecrow be interested in her? Afterall, she was just a socially awkward, plain jane, opera singer.


	3. Chapter 3

"You fucking idiot!" Johnny yelled at the Joker.

This wasn't what Johnny had planned to happen at all, they were going to just go to the opening show of La Traviata, watch the show, then capture Elaine when she went back to her dressing room. That simple. But NOOOO! The Joker had to send Elaine one of his calling cards, which is why Johnny was currently screaming at him right now.

Johnny paced around the living room where the Gotham City News and other news stations were still talking about the charity event at the opera house and a little bit about Elaine. Johnny was livid, he just couldn't stand still. He needed some type of release, like a good fuck with a certain Light of Gotham. But apparently that may not happen since a certain clown had to screw with the plan. "Why? Why in the hell did you do it? We had a perfectly good plan and you had to fuck it up."

The Joker just sat on the couch and stared at Johnny curiously. Then the Joker laughed. Johnny couldn't believe it… scratch that- actually yes he could believe it, the Joker was laughing at his frustration.

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny," Joker tsked as he sobered from his laughing fit, "You see, the problem is that I'm not a planner. I just do what I feel like and I felt like letting our little songbird know how we felt about her. Besides the plan you had was just so…boring. I thought I'd add a little more…" He licked his lips in thought and added, "Fun into the equation."

Johnny let out a frustrated sigh and sat down on the couch next to the Joker. "The only fun I want right now is the fun that involves a certain Prima Donna, handcuffs, a weed eater, cool whip, and a live chicken," Johnny muttered, not caring if Joker heard him or not. Of course the Joker heard him, but he didn't really want to ask what exactly that stuff was for, but he had a pretty good idea. He chuckled at the image that came up in his mind. Johnny could be such a horn dog at times.

* * *

On the other side of town in a small apartment not too far away from the Gotham Opera House, Elaine sat in her lounge chair/bookshelf in her small but modern living room looking over sheet music for La Traviata and humming along as she read. She lived alone in her small apartment, but she didn't mind for she was used to being by herself quite a lot.

When Elaine was younger she would spend most of her days playing by herself and exploring the Gotham Opera House alone while her parents were busy rehearsing. When she did go to school, for about a year of Kindergarten, she did try to make friends(that were alive), but when she told them about her special abilities they laughed, called her a freak, and then everyone in the class started making fun of her and called her crazy and a freak.

Elaine also didn't like to be in the school building itself very much, there were scary men that would walk around that she was only able to see and of course the scary men took notice that she was able to see them. They try to talk to her and if ignored them, she would get scratched or they would throw something to get her attention. There were times when there would be a mob of them surrounding her and talking all at once so loudly that she wouldn't be able to take it anymore and scream at the top of her lungs in the middle of class. That's when her over-protective mother pulled her out of school to be home schooled.

Of course Elaine's mother was concerned about her mental state, but her father was sure that she had the "gift" that the females in his family had. Elaine's parents took her to psychologists and they found nothing wrong with her. They would say, "She's just a little girl with an over active imagination. It will fade away as she gets older." But it never did. Lost souls would somehow find Elaine and overwhelm her to where she was always scared to be by herself. It wasn't until Elaine's aunt came to visit from France that Elaine was able to learn from her aunt how to control her abilities and stop the ghosts from overwhelming her. Basically, her aunt explained that Elaine and she were like lighthouses for those lost souls, they would see that light and be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Her aunt taught her how to dim the light hide it so the ghosts wouldn't be able to see her and be drawn to her like they are. Once Elaine learned what to do, a lot of the overwhelming encounters with the ghosts diminished.

There were times, however, when her guard would be down that the ghosts would see her "light" and go to her to get help.

As Elaine was sitting and looking over her script, a sudden chill fell throughout the room. It started with a whisper, a small one that Elaine would barely notice and…BAM! Elaine was surrounded by lost souls, all of them talking, screaming, and crying all at once. Some looked normal, while others bore the wounds of their death like stabbings in the face, bullet holes, being flattened by a tire wheel, you name it Elaine has probably seen it. Then they all started to touch and scratched her, competing with the other to get Elaine's attention. Louder and louder they screamed and cried until the frightened Elaine couldn't take it anymore and screamed at the top of her lungs, "STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Silence. Sweet silence. Elaine waited for a moment to sense if they were gone. She sighed and figured she might as well go to bed; she had a busy day ahead of her. Elaine got up, put her script on the bookshelf, and walked into her bedroom. She changed into a pair of her favorite pajamas with gold fluer di lises on the bottoms, crawled into the warmth of her bed, and fell asleep.

In her dream, she dreamed that she was a beautiful bird flying so high in the big blue sky. She soared over mountains and fields of green as the sunshine shone down on her and the land. When suddenly dark clouds covered the sky, thunder and lightening filled the sky, and rain started to pour over the land and Elaine. The wind blew every which way, making it difficult for Elaine's bird form to fly, she began to plummet to the land below and her as she fell her bird body began to morph into her normal, human body. She screamed as she kept falling, getting closer and closer to the ground. Elaine closed her eyes not wanting to see the end, but she didn't hit the ground instead it was something…soft.

Elaine opened her eyes to see what had cushioned her fall and she found she had landed in a stack of straw next to a cornfield with a strange looking scarecrow in it. Against Elaine's better judgment she got off the stack of straw and went to go check out the scarecrow. She walked cautiously toward the scarecrow.

"How strange," thought Elaine as she inspected the scarecrow, "Why would someone put a purple and green suit on a scarecrow," she asked herself while she reached her hand out to touch the scarecrow's suit.

Elaine's hand was mere inches away from touching the suit when the scarecrow jumped down from its post, grabbed her hand and pulled her close to its body.

"Well…hello beautiful," the scarecrow whispered as it wrapped one arm tightly around Elaine's waist and used the other to take off the potato sack over its head. The Joker.

"You…You're…You're not a scarecrow," Elaine uttered…not sure why she said that.

"I'm not," Joker said emphasizing the t at the end of not, "but he is." He twirled Elaine around and pushed her to the ground. Elaine looked up to see Joker and his partner in crime, the Scarecrow, standing over her laughing.

"You've got a 30 second head start. Tick, tock," Scarecrow stated pointing to his wristwatch.

"Starting now…1…2…3…4," Joker started counting loudly. Elaine got up and began to run as quickly as she could through the cornfield.

"27…28…29…30," Joker finished counting, "Ready or not. Here we come."

Elaine ran harder and harder until she had ran out of the cornfield and into a forest. She pushed through the brush and jumped over logs and creeks. When she felt like she had ran far enough away, she found a hiding spot in a small cave. She crawled far enough in the cave to where the Joker and Scarecrow wouldn't be able to see her if they looked in, but close enough to have a little bit of light.

The young opera singer sat down and rested against the wall of the cave, hoping and praying they wouldn't find her. She stayed there for a while, but deeper in the cave she started to hear what sounded like someone whistling Zip-a-dee-doo-daa. Once again, against her better judgement she crawled deeper into the cave. The whistling continued and got louder and louder then it just stopped. Elaine started to see a faint light as she crawled on through the tunnels in the cave. She crawled out of the small tunnel and came into a large room in the cave that she was able to stand up in. Here she found the light source, candles on the ground where the walls of the cave met the ground. If only that was the only thing she saw in the room.

Corpses, mutilated corpses of men, women, and children covered the walls and ceiling of the cave, it was like hell's version of the Sistine Chapel. Elaine tried to get back into the tunnel she came from, but from out of nowhere a pair of hands grabbed her around the waist. She kicked, screamed, and punched but the arms of the Scarecrow held on.

"Sssshhhhh…" Joker shushed Elaine as he walked up to her and grabbed her chin with one of his purple gloved hands. The other hand held a small knife and was lightly grazing over Elaine's cheek. When Elaine felt the blade on her cheek she immediately stopped and stared at the Joker.

"Good girl," Joker patted her cheek with his hand as he looked the young girl over.

"Wanna know how I got these scars? Hmmm? Well, I'll tell ya. I knew this girl. She was very pretty, just like you. She and I had a fling, but she had an abusive boyfriend that she couldn't leave. But we were so in love, she and I. So I decided I would, ya know, have a little chat with this boyfriend of hers. I confronted him, told him to buzz off. Him and his boys laughed. He says to me 'Lookie here boys, we've got a clown in our midst.' His boys take a hold of me and he takes out a knife and says, 'Let's make this clown smile.' And he gave me these. And ya know what, the girl I had a fling with couldn't stand the sight of me afterwards. Now, I see the funny side of things…" The Joker puts the knife in Elaine's mouth, "Would you like me to show you too," he asks her, him and Scarecrow both laughing.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," Elaine screamed, waking up in her bed drenched in sweat and breathing heavy. She put her hands on her face. No cuts or scars. It was just a dream. She laid her hand over her heart to calm herself down. The time on her alarm clock reading 4:03 a.m. as she lays down and calms herself from the terrible nightmare wondering where the heck it came from.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Elaine left her small apartment and decided to walk down to Gotham City Orphanage instead of driving or riding her bike (driving would have been a nightmare; traffic is always hell in Gotham, plus she needed the exercise anyway). Every Monday morning she made the time to go to the Gotham City Orphanage and teach them about music and singing. As she walked, she kept on thinking about her nightmare she had last night. She knew it was just a silly nightmare probably from that green tea she drank before she went to bed, but it still scared her. Elaine was about a couple of blocks away from the orphanage thinking about the nightmare, when she realized something.

"Merde," she cursed in her head, "I forgot to pick up some more sheet music from Papa Bob's."

Papa Bob's was Elaine's favorite music store. It had everything she could ever want or need that she couldn't find at any other store. If there was a piece of sheet music she needed for anything, Papa Bob had it. Right now, it was 10:00 in the morning and her classes at the orphanage didn't start until 11:30. She looked in her messenger bag to make sure she had some money to pay for the sheet music. She had money, but it wasn't enough to get enough the sheet music she needed. Luckily, there was a bank right across the street from Papa Bob's.

She quickened her pace and made her way to the Gotham Bank and Papa Bob's Music Store. Luckily, the bank was pretty empty and Elaine was able to get in and out in a matter of minutes. Once she had the money to get the sheet music, she left and went across the street to Papa Bob's music store.

Once Elaine she had walked into Papa Bob's, a suspicious white van parked next to the bank, but none of the people walking down the street didn't notice it or think it was suspicious. However, if they knew who was inside said white van, they might have changed their minds.

"Again, tell me why we're robbing a bank? Isn't that a little, I don't know…low…even juvenile maybe?" Johnny inquired as he peaked out of the back of the van to look around the street through the windows.

"Yea, it may be a little bit juvenile but it's oh so much fun. Besides, we haven't messed with the mobs in a while. They need a little shaking up." A dark shadow replied as he came up to where the light from the windows showed his make-up and outrageous purple suit. True, the Scarecrow and the Joker hadn't done anything for a couple of days and the mobs were starting to get a little power hungry again, so they needed to be taught that Gotham belonged to the Joker and the Scarecrow.

Just then out of the corner of Johnny's eye he caught a glimpse of something very familiar to him, in Papa Bob's Music store he saw her. Elaine. The woman who had been plaguing his wet dreams ever since he first laid eyes on her when she was on TV. Screw the bank, he was going to get a closer look at the woman he intended make his. Well, his and the Joker's, he was going to have to share Elaine with the Joker like they shared that one chick. What was her name? Polly, ah, Polly. That was fun. It's a shame, she was a good fuck. But she had to go and try to run away, they couldn't risk her telling the cops where their hideout so they had to kill her. Oh well…

"You go on ahead and have your fun causing chaos, anarchy, and what not. I see something much more interesting than robbing a bank that I want to do." Johnny said as he started to get out of the car and walk toward the music store. He didn't even wait for the Joker to reply or even try to stop him. He didn't even care to be honest.

The Joker was slightly confused at to what would be more interesting, he sure as hell couldn't think of anything besides blowing things up, but then he looked over at where Johnny was going. When he saw who was in there, he couldn't help but laugh. Johnny boy was truly obsessed with the girl, pretty much head over heels for her. It was too funny. He couldn't wait until they had her at the house; she was going to so much fun.

"Alright boys," The Joker smirked at the men with the clown masks surrounding him in the van. "Let's go have some fun." With that he and his henchmen jumped out of the van and entered the bank.

The first thing Elaine did when she got into Papa Bob's was look for the sheet music she was looking for. She was so determined in her mission that she was unaware that she was being watched and stalked by a pair of blue eyes. She had wandered the aisles of sheet music looking for about 5 more copies of the sheet music for the musical Cats that the Orphanage had decided to put on for the public.

She searched all of the shelves for the box that had the sheet music in it. (Which was a lot of shelves, every single wall in the store was covered with shelves of sheet music) Fifteen minutes later, she was about to give up and find one of the employees to see if they knew where it was or if they had some available in the back of the store (there were even more shelves of sheet music back there).

She sighed and looked up at the very top of one of the shelves to find the box of sheet music she was looking for.

"Yay," she said to herself as she mentally jumped up and down for joy. She reached to grab the box from the shelf. There was only one problem; she was too short to grab the box from the top shelf.

"Merde," she cussed silently as she got on her tip toes to see if she could reach it better. That was unsuccessful.

She looked around to see if anyone was around to help her out a bit. Unfortunately, they were none where to be seen. "Great," she huffed. She looked around to see if there was a stool. Nope, none whatsoever.

She was desperate now, she jumped up to try and grab the box, but ended up making the boxes on the shelf fall down on her face. Consequently, she fell right on her ass and the sheet music was scattered around her. She looked at the sheet music to see if she got the box she needed. She couldn't find the box on the floor, but then she looked up. There on the top shelf was the box she needed. She got up on her hands and knees to clean up the mess she made and let out a frustrated sigh.

Unknown to Elaine, Jonathan had been following her around in the store. He saw her whole dilemma with the sheet music on the top shelf. The poor girl was too short and petite to reach the top shelf. He thought it was cute how determined she was to get that box of sheet music. He almost laughed out loud when she fell on her cute little ass, making sheet music fly out of the boxes they were in and falling all over the floor. He almost lost it when she got on her hands and knees with her ass sticking out in the air like a naughty girl. His member twitched in excitement.

He could easily take her now, she would be easy to subdue into submission, no one would notice her absence until it was too late, and the van was right there. Then he could do with her what he pleased. Nah, there wasn't any fun in that. Besides, he wanted to see her perform Violetta in La Traviata. And there was no telling what crazy thing the Joker was thinking about doing to abduct her during or after her performance, something extremely dramatic more than likely.

But for now, he would have to do with just watching her, couldn't he? Unlike the Joker, he could go out into the public without anybody noticing. The Scarecrow was just a mask he could take off whenever. Nobody knew Jonathan Crane was the Scarecrow anyway (alive that is), whenever Batman left him for the police the Joker would get to him first and they would escape. So, technically, he could go up to her and talk to her. Where was the harm in that? None.

So that's what he did, he walked over to Elaine, who was still on her hands and knees picking up the sheet music and putting them back in order. Slowly, he bent down closely next to her; she didn't even notice his presence she was so focused on putting the sheet music back in perfect order. Then he put his lips next to her ear and, in a husky voice, offered, "Need some help?"

Elaine, frightened by the voice, jumped away from Johnny, fell back on her ass as she stared at Johnny with her eyes as wide as a deer in the headlight.

"Wow, she's easy to scare. I may not even need to use the fear toxin on her," he thought to himself as he looked at her. She was even prettier up close and personal. He had his work cut out for him, with her looking all cute, frightened, and that gorgeous rack of hers heaving up and down, it was hard for him to keep himself from pouncing on her and having his way with her now.

"Quit it Johnny," he scolded himself, "You can look but you can't touch…yet."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry miss. I didn't mean to frighten you," he lied as he stood up and offered her his hand, "Here let me help you."

For a moment, Elaine just stared at him dumbfounded. Never in her life had she seen eyes so blue, she was entranced. As if her body was moving on its own will, her hand rose up and took the man's hand in front of her. With an almost ethereal grace and strength, she was lifted up to her feet by him. It's wasn't that hard for him to lift her up, she was as light as a feather.

They both stood there for a while, staring into each other's eyes and her hand in his. When Johnny realized what he was doing, he let go of her hand, looked away, and coughed breaking the trance Elaine was in. Embarrassed by her actions, Elaine looked away as well, putting the sheet music on one of the lower shelves she could reach and finding the shelf next to her to be quite fascinating. After a very awkward silence, Elaine broke the ice, "Thank you," she meekly replied still not having the courage to look at him.

"No problem," his silky voice murmured into her ear from behind, causing her to jump a little and turn her face beet red. He smirked at the effect he was having on this girl. She was going to be a lot of fun to have around. "So," he continued smoothly, walking up next to her so he could see her face, "Which of the boxes were you reaching for?" he indicated toward the top shelf where the box of sheet music she was looking for still laid upon. She pointed to the box she needed and he easily reached up, grabbed it, and handed it to her. When she grabbed it, he made sure his finger slightly brushed hers "accidentally." When he did so it made her shiver and blush even more which made him delighted that he could have so much power over the girl and they just met.

"Perhaps it's just my mojo, baby," he thought playfully to himself.

"Um," Elaine started shyly, breaking Jonathan out of his thoughts. "Thank you Mr. …"

"Crane. Dr. Jonathan Crane," he introduced himself like James Bond. Oh yeah, he was smooth alright. Not one woman could resist the doctor title. There was something about being a doctor, even if it was of psychology that made women go crazy for him. Elaine would probably be no different.

"Oh, well. Thank you Dr. Crane," she thanked him once again. Elaine then realized she didn't even introduce herself. How rude. "I'm sorry, but I've forgotten my manners. I'm-"

"Elaine DuMont," Johnny finished for her. Elaine tilted her head in confusion, surprised he knew her name. "I recognize you from the charity concert you did on the television a few nights ago." he clarified for her. Oh yeah. She completely forgot that the concert was live on television.

"And please, call me Jonathan," he continued, smiling at her the entire time. She didn't know why, but she was getting a little uncomfortable being alone with this guy, but he was so darn handsome. What time was it anyway? She checked her watch, it was 10:45. She probably needed to get going soon, probably now.

Jonathan noticed her uneasiness, "So," he began to break the ice, "Cats, huh? Didn't know the Gotham Opera did musicals. I thought musicals would be too unsophistacated for an opera singer as yourself," he inquired.

"Actually, I don't just sing opera. If you were listening to what I was singing at the concert, you would have noticed that I sing songs from just about every genre there is out there. As for the sheet music, I'm buying it for a music class that I teach." Elaine retorted. Elaine noticed though that she did sound a little bitchy towards the poor guy, she did notice him flinch a little when she made her comment. What Elaine was unaware of was how her bitchy comment she made was a turn on for Jonathan. Like the Joker, he liked it when a woman had a little feistiness in her, made making her submit to their will so much more fun.

"Me-oww, aren't we a feisty little kitty," he stated as he cornered her between bookshelves with hooded eyes. He wanted her so badly right about now it was killing him. 'Screw it! I'm going for it.' He could see and smell the fear coming off the girl and it was turning him on even more.

"This is going to be so much fun," he thought as he lowered his face towards Elaine's. It was exhilarating and intoxicating. Just when he was about to go in for the kill, his cell phone rang. He made a frustrated sigh as he pulled back from Elaine's cowering body and read the text message on the screen of his cell phone.

_Hey! Winnebago b here in 2 mins. Get ur horny ass over here and help. ~ J_

"A Winnebago? How in the hell did the Joker get a fucking Winnebago," Jonathan thought. He turned back to Elaine, who was breathing hard, blushing, and looking at him curiously. That intrigued him a little bit; she was going to be fun to have around that's for sure.

"As much as I would love to continue our conversation, Miss DuMont," he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, "I'm afraid I have been called away on other business. I'll _catch _you later," He smirked at his pun and winked at her.

With that, he left the store and went across the street to the bank. Leaving Elaine to wonder what the hell just happened. She looked at the time on her watch. It was 11:00.

"Damn it," she cursed in her thoughts as she weaved through the mass of shelved to get to the cashier's counter. She paid for the sheet music and quickly left the store for the Orphanage, her mind still reeling over what had happened with Dr. Crane.

"Did I almost just get kissed by the guy," Elaine pondered as she walked. She wasn't well versed in flirting in the real world but she wasn't blind to the fact he was flirting heavily with her, not that she didn't mind a cute doctor flirting with her but at a music store. How weird is that?

What did he mean that he would catch her later? Did he plan on seeing her perform on opening night. Sure, he was kind of creepy with his overbearing flirting but Elaine did find him attractive and charming in his own way.

"Too bad he didn't ask me for my number. I would kind of like to see him again," she thought.

* * *

The Joker was never a patient man, unless it was part of the "plan", like say when they captured Elaine. But right now when he and Johnny boy were supposed to be robbing a bank, he wasn't in the mood to be patient. Where the hell was Johnny boy anyway? He better not be tainting their soon-to-be pet before the right time, that wouldn't be very nice of him to hog the girl to himself. Then again, the Joker could understand not wanting to share something as good looking as her. Even he, the Joker, was somewhat stunned by her beauty and talent. That didn't happen that often mind you. The Joker wouldn't have Johnny boy hogging the prize though. The girl was much as his as she was Johnny boy's. If anyone wasn't going to share her, it was going to be him.

Speaking of Johnny boy, here he comes now. Correction: here comes the Scarecrow. He apparently put on that potato sack he calls a mask on before he came in. Just when all the dirty work of getting the people to get down on the floor, disarming the alarms, opening the safe, packing as much cash into the bags they brought was over, and waiting for the Winnebago to arrive, he comes strolling in like a love sick puppy humming some song. The song going on about feeling Elaine, stealing her, and being buried sweetly in her brunette hair. That made the Joker a bit curious and a bit…jealous.

Could the Joker be jealous that Johnny boy can stroll around in the open without people staring at him and that he could go up to Elaine and have a normal conversation with her without her knowing who he really was? In a way…yeah. The Joker didn't ask for the scars that marred his face, at least he didn't remember asking for them. He's told people so many different stories as to how he got his scars; he just doesn't remember which story is the real one. It was so long ago anyway. He knew he was a strapping young lad before he had the permanent grin put on his face. Surely, no one in their right mind would want to give himself or herself a Glasgow smile he reasoned. Way too painful, even deadly, this is why he used it to kill people most of the time.

Even though people say he's insane for killing people and blowing up buildings, he's not…well not as insane as most people think. Insane suggests that he doesn't know right from wrong (legally insane), but he knows what he does would be considered wrong in the eyes of others. Does he care? No. Besides, could an insane person have been able to do the things he's done over the past year? Probably not.

"So. Where's this Winnebago you texted me about," Scarecrow inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Joker, irked at the Joker for calling him away just when he was about to make a move on Elaine, but was keen on hearing how Joker got a Winnebago.

The Joker waltzed over to where the sack of money was laying, "It should be here in about, oh…" He pulled his left sleeve up to look the wristwatch, with the knives as hands on the clock face of course, he was wearing. He lifted his right hand into the air and counted down, "In five. Four. Three. Two. One. And…" He lifted his eyes from his watch and looked toward the glass doors that was the main entrance to the bank.

CRASH!

"Perfect timing," Joker giggled to himself as he happily sauntered over to where a black Winnebago (a very nice luxury Vectra, if anyone's interested to know) covered with blood red over exaggerated Glasgow smiles had just crashed into the main entrance to the bank. The driver of the Winnebago, another one of the Joker's henchmen (all of the ones he had for the robbery were all killed already), came out of the vehicle, opened the outside storage compartments, and started to pile in the bags of money Joker and Johnny were throwing at him.

Once all the bags of money were packed away into the Winnebago, the henchman was about to say something to his bosses, but before he could utter one syllable Joker took the gun in his hand and shot the henchman right in between the eyes of the clown mask. Johnny, used to Joker killing his henchmen left and right, just stood over the body and examined the dead clown henchman with a break in his mask. It was a pretty nice shot. If Johnny took of the mask he probably would have just seen a slushy of brains, blood, and fragmented skull, not a nice little clean bullet hole like in the movies and on TV, that's just for dramatics. Real heads just go bye-bye when shot at close range.

"Where the fuck did you get a Winnebago," Johnny asked as he looked at the away from the dead henchman to go and examine the inside of the smile strewn RV. The inside was really nice. First off it was quite spacious for an RV. All the seats in the living room area were all Wakefield dark leather and all the wood cabinets were concert cherry, and the floor was a ceramic tile. In the kitchen there was stainless steel appliances (fridge, stove, and microwave) and a nice u-shaped dinette with a sliding tabletop. Next to the sink was a really nice 37-inch LCD TV. He looked into the bathroom to find that it wasn't cramped like most RV bathrooms were, it had what a normal bathroom would have, a shower that was actually pretty spacious, a sink, and of course a toilet. Johnny's favorite room had to be the bedroom just for the fact that it had a Sleep Number bed and it was king sized. He would definitely have to christen this baby with a certain Prima Donna. That is if Joker hadn't blown this thing up before they got their prize.

Once Johnny was done touring the inside of the Winnebago, he walked back to the front where the Joker was just getting himself settled into the driver's seat. Really the Joker didn't care about how luxurious the Winnebago was; it was transportation that would take him point A to point B. He did notice it was nice, but worldly possessions didn't really matter to him. In the end they would all just crumble to dust.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out Johnny boy," The Joker replied to Johnny's question, laughing as he started up the Winnebago, revved it up, put it and reverse, and left the bank in shambles.

* * *

As Elaine was walking down the sidewalk to the Orphanage she heard behind her a couple of blocks away a loud crash like a car of some sort crashing into something big, like a building. She stopped to see what the commotion was. It turns out a big Winnebago smashed into the bank and was being used by the Joker and the Scarecrow to load up the cash they just stole.

"What the heck," she said to herself. She didn't know what just happened. Why would a Winnebago crash into the bank? That's when she saw the smiles that covered the RV and instantly knew what was going on. The Joker and the Scarecrow were in there robbing the bank. That's scary; she was just in that bank not even half an hour ago.

"How in the world did they get that Winnebago?" Elaine asked no one in particular, frozen to the spot she was standing at by shock and amazement. She could guess that either they stole it from an RV dealership or they hijacked it from some unsuspecting person or persons. She didn't really want to think about the latter. This was the time when ignorance was bliss.

Elaine was starting to get a little uncomfortable just standing there so close to where carnage and mayhem were taking place. She seriously wanted to leave and go on to the orphanage. Now. She wasn't going chance it that once the Winnebago gets out of the bank, with her luck, the Joker and Scarecrow would kidnap her or shoot and kill her. That would not be a good thing. Nope, not at all.

So Elaine turned around and quickly headed toward the orphanage. Luckily for her, the Winnebago was headed off in the opposite direction as she was going.

Elaine made it to Gotham Orphanage in impeccable timing. She arrived at 11:15, which gave Elaine fifteen minutes to get settled and look over the sheet music she just bought for the kids. She really enjoyed Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals and Cats was one of her favorites. The kids seemed to enjoy it too and were having fun learning the songs. Next time the Gotham Opera has a charity event, she ought to get the kids to perform some of the songs she's taught them or put on Cats at the opera house.

It's only been a year since she started volunteering and Elaine was amazed how much the kids had been learning about music and all the fun it was to teach such a group of wonderful children.

At least it gives them something to do instead of thinking about their current predicaments. It's sad really. Not all, but most of these kids have been in horrible conditions in their past lives before they were taken to the orphanage. Some were badly abused by their parents who were drunks, druggies, or just plain sick people, while others had their parents killed in a crime. One little girl, Jeanie is her name, was the daughter of EMT and a police officer. Her mother, the EMT, was killed when a criminal had a concealed knife when he was taken in the ambulance truck. Her father was killed in the blast caused by the Joker when he escaped the police station the first time. Jeanie was only five years old and she's already lost her parents and is stuck here waiting to be adopted like the rest of the kids here.

Elaine hated criminals like the Joker and the Scarecrow for what they had done to some of these kids. How could someone take the life of a person who could possibly have a family? Did they ever think that the EMT or that police officer might just have a little daughter like Jeanie waiting for their safe return home? Of course not, they don't have a conscious. To Elaine, they were just sick monsters.

Elaine stopped thinking these thoughts as she sat down to her favorite instrument, the piano. She began her usual routine of warming up her voice and her fingers with some basic scales, arpeggios, pronunciation warm-ups like "My mommy made me mash my M&Ms", jumps from one note to the same note an octave higher with ni and nah, and other various warm ups.

Once she was finished warming up her voice and her hands, she noticed she still had about five more minutes till the kids would come in. With those five minutes, she decided to play around a little and warm up her vocals a little bit with some songs. Elaine started to play the intro to Macavity: The Mystery Cat, and instead of saying Macavity she was singing The Joker. She wasn't sure why she did, but the song seemed to fit him well.

The Joker's a mystery man  
He's called the Clown Prince of Crime  
For he's a master criminal who can defy the law  
He's the bafflement of Gotham Police  
The FBI's despair  
For when they reach the scene of crime the Joker's not there

The Joker, the Joker, there's no one like the Joker  
He's broken every human law  
He breaks the law of gravity  
His powers of levitation  
Would make a fakir stare  
And when you reach the scene of crime, the Joker's not there

You may seek him in the basement  
You may look up in the air  
But I tell you once and once again  
The Joker's not there

The Joker's wears a purple suit  
He's very tall and thin  
You would know him if you saw him for his eyes are sunken in  
His brow is deeply lined in thought  
His head is highly domed  
His coat is dusty from neglect  
His whiskers are uncombed

He sways his head from side to side  
With movements like a snake  
And when you think he's half asleep  
He's always wide awake

The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker  
He's a fiend in clown makeup  
A monster of depravity  
You may meet him in a by-street  
You may see him in the square  
But when a crime's discovered then the Joker's not there

He's outwardly respectable  
I know he cheats at cards  
And his footprints are not found in any files  
Of Gotham PD

And when the larder's looted  
Or the jewel cases rifled  
Or when the money is missing  
Or another Peke's been stifled  
Or the Gotham Bank safe is broken and city hall's past repair  
There's the wonder of the thing, Joker's not there!

The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker  
There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity  
He always has an alibi and one or two to spare  
Whatever time the deed took place, the Joker wasn't there!

And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known  
(I might mention the clown henchmen)  
(I might mention the Scarecrow)  
Are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time  
Just controls the operations, the Napoleon of crime!

The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker  
He's a fiend in clown makeup  
A monster of depravity  
You may meet him in a by-street  
You may see him in the square  
But when a crime's discovered then the Joker, Joker, Joker  
When a crime's discovered then the Joker's not there!

Once she finished her singing the song, she looked up to find the kids sitting in risers, all in their assigned spots based on their vocal range, all staring at her weirdly.

"When did the kids get in here," Elaine thought to herself and looked at the clock that hung on the wall next to the door. It was 11:31.

"Oh. My, aren't they punctual," She blushed, not used to having these kids look at her like that. "Um…good morning class," she greeted, hoping to break the awkwardness.

"Good morning Miss Dumont." the children greeted in unison.

"Let's start with our warm-ups, alright. Sit up straight, feet on the floor, hands in your laps," She looked around the class and noticed one of the kids had a piece of gum in his mouth, trying to hide it.

"Gum out of your mouths. I don't feel like giving the Heimlich maneuver or CPR today," Once Elaine said that the kid slyly took the ABC (already been chewed) gum out of his mouth and stuck it under the chair. Gross.

With that out of way, they began warming up the same way Elaine did when she came into the music room. Once they finished warm ups, she grabbed the sheet music she just bought and handed them out to the kids who had to share last time she was there.

"Last time we were looking sight reading the song Jelicle Songs for Jelicle Cats, let's see how much we remember from last week," She stood in front and center of the risers so her students could see her. "What key is this in, folks," she quizzed. A few hands shot up into the air, eager to answer her question. "Um…yes, Gerald." she pointed to him.

"Um…F?" the young boy answered, a little unsure if he was right.

"Correct, Gerald." Elaine praised. "So, now what does that make F in this sheet of music? Yes, Heidi?"

A little blond girl with forget me not blue eyes answered, "It means that F is do (said as doe)."

"Right Heidi. So, now I want you guys to get into a circle with the rest of you to get into your sections, sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, and I want you to figure out the rhythms in the music, and then figure out the notes using the sol-fa. We'll do this for about 15 minutes, and then we'll see if we can sing it." Elaine instructed, using the same methods her parents and teachers taught her when she was little. "I'll be walking around to help you guys out."

Once she finished with her instructions, the children divided into sections and started working on figuring out the song. Occasionally, Elaine had to come over to one of the sections and help them with a certain phrase in the music. The kids were pretty good at sight-reading. Once the time was up, Elaine gathered the children back to their seats and she went to the piano.

"Fantastic job sight reading you guys. Now, here's the F scale, sing with me." She played and sang the scale with the children. "Here's do (doe)." she hit the F note on the piano. "Now use do (doe) to find your first note." she instructed. Elaine gave them a few seconds to find the notes. "Alright, let's check and make sure you guys got it. Sopranos, here's your note," Elaine hit the key on the piano for the soprano's first note. She did the same thing with each section. "Ok. Ready? Let's do it! And…" she then nodded and began to play the song with the kids singing it. For their first time, it sounded pretty good. Yay!

The rest of the time of the class was spent tweaking certain spots in the music and helping the kids memorize the lyrics to the song. With only about five more minutes before they had to leave to go to lunch, Elaine used this time to ask the class if they had any questions about the music or if there was something they needed help with concerning the music. There weren't many questions, but something struck her as odd. One little boy, Randy, had a tear running down his face and looked like he was about to bawl.

"Randy, what's the matter with you?" Elaine inquired. Did one of the older kids start teasing him again? Then he did the unexpected, he ran down the risers and grabbed onto Elaine for dear life crying his poor little eyes out. "Shh. It's ok Randy." she cooed. "What's the wrong?"

Randy sniffled and said between sobs, "I had a scary dream last night, Ms. DuMont. You were in it and you were being hurt by bad people." Once he said it, he started to bawl again, grasping her even tighter.

"Randy. Those were just scary dreams. Dreams can't hurt you, hun," she stated.

"But the older kids said that Freddy Kruger can come into your dreams and chop you into chips Ms. DuMont," Randy sobbed, still upset.

"That's not what they said!" One of the other boys in the back piped in. "I heard that he guts people like a fish with a knife and play jump rope with their intestines." Elaine cringed at the gory image.

"Nuh-uh!" one of the other kids in the middle cried out. "I heard he puts a bomb in their bodies and make a building explode! Like the Joker did!"

"You're all wrong!" Dainty little Heidi chimed in. "Freddy Kruger whisks pretty princesses, like Ms. Dumont, away from here to somewhere over the rainbow and rides off into the sunset on a white horse and live happily ever after at the Emerald City…and then eats their brains," Ok, that one was a little odd. Seriously, these little tykes have some creative imaginations, disturbing, but creative imaginations.

"Well," one of the boys scoffed. "I heard that-"

"Children!" a shrill voice that could only belong to cranky ole Mrs. Burke filled the room. "It's time for lunch. Let's go!" With that all the children ran to the door and started to stampede to the lunchroom, except a little raven haired and blue-eyed boy, Randy, who was still holding onto Elaine for dear life.

Elaine pried Randy's arms from around her, bent down onto her knees, and placed her hand on his cheek to comfort him, "It's alright, Randy. What those kids are saying isn't true, ok. Nothing is going to get me. They're just dreams and nothing more. Ok?"

Randy sobbed again, trying his hardest to dry his tears. He really loved Elaine, she was pretty and very kind, like a mommy should be. He hoped that she would maybe adopt him one day and really be his mommy. Not like his real mommy who left him alone in the streets when she left to go to "work" and never came back.

"You promise," he questioned her.

"I promise," she swore as she pulled the little boy into a hug. They stood there for a minute, before Randy's stomach broke the moment with a ferocious growl. Elaine laughed as she stood up.

"Run along now and get some lunch, ok. I'll see you next week." Randy nodded and happily trotted off to the lunchroom. Elaine gathered her things and straightened up the room before she left to go get herself lunch, then go to the gym to workout and keep herself toned, and back to the opera house for last minute fittings before dress rehearsals started the next day. She had thought about the dream Randy had and the dream she had last night as well and wondered if she was right about dreams not being able to harm her.


	5. Chapter 5

After Elaine had finished her workout at the gym close to the Gotham City Opera House, she headed to the opera house to take a quick shower and get her final fittings for her costumes finished. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the last three rehearsals before Friday's opening night for La Traviata and they were expected to be in full costume and set by Tuesday.

Elaine loved the costumes she was wearing for the production, the costumes were set in early 18th century fashion. She liked wearing early 18th century costumes since they were so elegant and intricate, even though she had to wear a corset and quick changes were out of the question. Luckily the costumers were nice and didn't tie the corset so tight that she would have trouble breathing and they were light enough that she didn't wear herself out too much. Elaine's favorite costume was the dress she wore for Act 1, a red dress with white lacing around the neckline and sleves, a white, very ornate stomacher, a white ribbon high on the neck, and of course a red heart-shaped patch on the corner of her eye that signified that her character was a mistress.

She was on her way to her dressing room to take a quick shower and get ready for the fittings, when she saw something out of the ordinary on her vanity. A purple box tied with green ribbon and another one of "his" calling cards next to the box. In the other side of the Joker card was another poem.

_Roses__ are red  
Pickles are green  
I love your legs  
and what's in between_

_I like your style  
I like your class  
but most of all  
I like your ass!_

_~ Joker_

_P.S. Wear what's in the box Friday night under your costume so I don't have to use my knife too much. I, uh, tend to get too knife happy and have "accidents" when I have to cut through too much clothing to get to what I want. Don't want you to stain the sheets that much. Ha…ha…ha…._

Elaine was scared but oh so curious to see what was in the box. It was obviously another prank by someone in the cast or crew, but she wasn't sure who. It was kind of irritating and highly inappropriate what he was writing that's for sure. She opened the box and found the most provocative lingere she could have ever imagined. It was basically two strings of dental floss. Elaine's eyes were wide in shock that someone would actually have the audacity to give her this.

Elaine walked out of the dressing room with the lingere and the card and went into the green room where most of the crew and some of the cast were just hanging out.

"Um… Hey, guys…sorry if I'm interrupting but…um…I don't know who's pulling this prank on me, but please stop. It's not funny," Elaine said shyly as she placed the box with the card and lingere inside onto the table in the center of the room. The cast and crew looked inside the box. The stage manager picked up the contents of the box, staring at them sternly, not happy that someone would send this as a joke.

"Where did you find these," the stage manager questioned.

"I found them…along with another card and a purple rose the night of the charity concert…on my vanity in my dressing room," Elaine explained.

The stage manager looked around at the cast and crew, "Alright, which one of you sickos pulled this prank. You can tell me now and your consequences will be less. Don't tell me now I'll call the police and when you're caught, you will be charged with sexual assault. Now, who did this?"

Silence, most of the cast and crew looked shocked that someone would pull a prank like this. Sure, they kid around and pull pranks on Elaine since she was the freak that would talk to herself and not interact with others outside the theatre much, but nobody would be sick enough to pretend to be the Joker and send her love notes.

"Ok, fine. I'm calling the police. I don't take these things as jokes, especially when someone thinks it's funny to use a Joker card and pretend to be that no good criminal," the stage manager took out his cell phone and dialed the police.

When the stage manager called the police, they came and took the "gifts" that Elaine had received from the "Joker" and sent them to the forensics lab. They took the cast and crew members and interviewed each of them at the theatre, except for Elaine. They had orders from Commissioner Gordon to bring her down to the PD for questioning and in case someone meant to harm her at the opera house.

The police officers sent her to Commissioner Gordon's office where she waited for at least an hour and a half before a man with graying blonde hair, glasses, and a suit with a loosened tie to come into the office.

"Miss DuMont," the gentleman said as he came into the office, "I'm Commissioner Gordon. I apologize for the wait. Is there anything that I can get you? Coffee?"

"Just a bottle of water would be fine. Thank you," Elaine replied. Gordon went behind his desk and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge next to his desk.

"Well Miss DuMont, I have something I need to tell you." Commissioner Gordon informed Elaine as he handed the young singer a bottle of water. She couldn't have coffee or any type of sugary products, not this close to the opening of a show. Gordon looked like he needed a ton of coffee though, he had huge bags under his eyes and looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"Ok," Elaine responded, a little worried about what he was going to tell her.

"Alright," he paused and looked at the young girl in front of him. The poor girl was not going to like what she was going to hear. "We took the Joker cards to the forensics lab and it's doesn't indicate being a prank from one of your coworkers. It's actually a perfect match to the calling cards the Joker's left at previous crime scenes." He took off his glasses and started to clean them with a cloth. It was one of his habits when he was about to break some bad news to someone.

"We're not sure why, but we think that you are the Joker and the Scarecrow's next target." Gordon clarified.

Elaine paled as her eyes grew wide and her lips parted slightly in shock. She was scared shitless and she had every right to be.

"Oh my god…" she gasped as she looked like she was about to faint.

"Calm down Miss DuMont. We checked on your parents and they're fine. What we're going to do is have you and your parents stay at a safe house, kind of like being in witness protection," Gordon continued, "You'll be able to perform in La Traviata, since we'll have all of our best officers at the opera house everywhere when you're there. You will have to have a couple of them with you at all times. Well…except when you're on stage, but we'll have officers in the audience, the wings, and backstage. I promise you that you'll be safe, we'll catch the Joker and Scarecrow, and we can all go back to living our normal lives before all of this mess." Gordon explained in detail.

"So…what you're saying is that I'm somewhat live bait that you're using to draw both the Joker and the Scarecrow out and then you'll arrest them?" Elaine didn't like the idea of being used like that. From what she knew, the Joker seemed to be steps ahead of the police and was pretty good at outsmarting them with their plans. Plus this also reminded her of the Phantom of the Opera during _Point of No Return_ scene where the Phantom outsmarted the police and got away with Christine. But, who was Elaine to tell the Commissioner of the Gotham Police that his plan didn't seem like it would work? Who knows, maybe the Batman will rescue her. She wouldn't mind that one bit.

"As crazy as it sounds, Miss DuMont, yes that's what we're planning on. It should work, hopefully," Gordon said, but not as confidently as she wanted. Did she have any other choice? Not really.

Elaine sighed; she couldn't believe she was going through with this, "Alright…what do I need to do?"

"We just want you go and act as you normal, as if the card didn't bother you at all. We will have you protected wherever you go, we'll just check things out before you do anything, and record your conversations on your phone, just in case they try to make further contact. Just make sure to be careful when you're out ok." He warned the young singer.

"Yes, Commissioner. I understand." She stood up to leave. Gordon, being from an age where men were respectable toward woman, stood up, walked her to the door, and opened it for her. "Thank you."

"Now." Gordon walked with her through the police station. "Let's get you someplace safe. You need your rest. We wouldn't want to disappoint your fans by having you fall asleep on stage." He chuckled at his joke. Elaine was too pre-occupied with her thoughts. She still couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to end very badly for her.


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday morning. If Elaine hadn't thought the GPD was a joke before, she sure would have now. No matter where she went, she had to have a gaggle of bodyguards around her, which she was very uncomfortable with. But when she was on stage they wouldn't even be watching her, they would be in the green room flirting with the chorus girls and playing football on the Xbox. It's like they wanted her to get kidnapped by the Joker and the Scarecrow.

Now that she basically had a bulls eye on her back, the cast and crew made an effort to avoid her backstage. Not that they didn't before anyway, but now they made the extra effort since Joker and Scarecrow had her as a target.

Thursday night. The final dress rehearsal for La Traviata had just ended; usually Elaine would be ecstatic for dress rehearsals to be over and for the performances to start. Opening night has always been her favorite part of being in a production at the Gotham Opera, getting up on stage, wowing, and entertaining people with her performance was what sent her to her seventh heaven. Not this time however. She dreaded opening night not because she was getting opening night jitters, but what might happen during or after the performance.

Elaine had been assured by Gordon that everything was going to be all right, nothing was going to harm her, and she had nothing to be afraid of. They were going to be monitoring every single exit of the opera house and there was no way the Joker or Scarecrow was getting out of the opera house without handcuffs on, never mind dragging Elaine to who knows where. Still, the Joker and the Scarecrow have been known in the past to be able to evade police detection. Who knows, maybe there's underground tunnels beneath the opera house and her mirror happens to be one of the ways into the underground tunnels, just like in the Phantom of the Opera. Hopefully not or if there is that the Joker and the Scarecrow don't know about them.

But now that she thought about it the more she was worried. Both criminals have slipped through Gotham Police's hands before, what makes this time any different? She sighed as she was helped out here last costume for the opera by the costumers. She went into the bathroom, took a shower, and got into a pair of skinny blue jeans, a pair of Chucks that went up to knees, a black Flogging Molly tank top, and a "Soprano 4 Life" zip-up hoodie. All she wanted to do now was sleep and hopefully wake up to find out this was all a bad dream. But apparently luck wasn't on her side tonight.

"Knock, knock," Darcie, a bubbly blonde dancing girl in the chorus Elaine knew somewhat, announced as she barged into Elaine's dressing room and made herself at home on her fainting couch. Darcie, dressed in a blue sexy saloon girl costume, stared at Elaine puzzled.

"You're wearing that to the Iceberg," she asked somewhat confused.

The Iceberg was a club that just opened and was supposedly the trendiest place to be now. They would have different themed parties at the Iceberg every night, tonight's was a just a costume party. People who worked at the Opera House got in there for free since the owner loved the Gotham Opera and was one of their patrons. What most people didn't know was that it was also the hotspot for the mafias and other criminals who could afford to go there.

"Um…no...I wasn't planning on going," Elaine stated as she sat down at her vanity and began to wipe off the stage make-up that didn't come off in the shower. It was tradition for the cast of a production to go out and party the night before opening night as a way to celebrate the end of rehearsals and the production itself, and also to get the stage jitters out for a while. Elaine wasn't much of a partier so she didn't go to the cast parties before the opening night, not that anyone ever invited her anyway.

Darcie looked at Elaine in shock, "Why not? You have to go! You're the lead soprano and the star of the show. It would be bad publicity if you didn't."

Elaine was a little confused, nobody ever asked her if she wanted to go to the cast party before. Everyone was avoiding her now and nobody didn't like being around the weird girl of the opera. Now one of the popular girls in the chorus wanted her to go to the Iceberg with her. What was going on?

"I'm sorry Darcie, but I can't go," Elaine respectfully declined.

Darcie pouted, and tried to think of ways to convince Elaine to go to the party.

"Is it because of the Joker and Scarecrow thing that you won't go," she asked Elaine who was scrubbing around her eyes to get off the stubborn eye make-up that was caked on her. "Why not just ditch the meatheads and go with me and some of the gals in the production to the party? You'll be safe with me and the other gals in a public place. Plus, I've got a car so I can drive you to wherever you need to go afterwards. C'mon, it'll be so much fun. Please?"

Elaine was thinking about it, she could use a break from being suffocated by all the unnecessary protection. Plus, someone was actually being nice to her for once and wanting her to go to a party. Still, Joker and Scarecrow could be anywhere, what's to say that they might be at the Iceberg tonight. Although, Elaine could just be scaring herself and nothing bad will happen if she went. All she would have to do was call one of the bodyguards and tell him where she was when she wanted to go back to the safe house; sure they'd be furious with her but a night to maybe cut loose a little might be fun. Still, she couldn't shake that feeling that something would happen if she went. She wasn't sure if it would be a good thing or bad thing, but she could feel it like the calm before the storm or like being on the top of the first hill of a roller coaster before the big drop.

"Why are you being nice to me all of the sudden," Elaine asked, wondering why Darcie would be so nice to her all of the sudden. "I didn't think you didn't liked me."

Darcie's bubbly personality went serious, "Honestly? Everyone in the opera house knows about how the Gotham PD is using you to attract the Joker and Scarecrow and how you could have said no or ran away to France with your family. Instead, you said ok. That's pretty brave and maybe there's more to you than meets the eye. We feel bad about making fun of you all these years and thought that maybe we could, ya know, be friends. So come on, come with us tonight and have some fun for the night to start off a new friendship."

Elaine was touched by Darcie's words, though she still was slightly afraid of going out without the meatheads. True, they were a bunch of idiots, but at least they had guns and were a lot stronger than a group of women in case something did happen while she was out. "I don't know Darcie…"

"Elaine DuMont!" Darcie stood up and stomped over to where Elaine was seated. "You need to get out and have some fun, missy. The chances of you bumping into the Joker or the Scarecrow are like getting hit by lighting twice and winning the lottery in the same week," Darcie reasoned.

"Darcie does have a point," Elaine reasoned with herself. Maybe going out and partying for one night wouldn't be too bad. Perhaps, it might be fun and Elaine could actually be friends with the girls.

"Ok, I'll go."

"YAY!" The little blond dancer started to jump up and down, happy that Elaine was going with them to the party.

"There's just one little detail we need to fix before we go. You need a costume. Oh, oh, I can give you a makeover! I just love giving people makeovers," Darcie squealed, "Come on. You're gonna be knocking the boys in the club dead in their tracks when I'm done with you." Darcie then grabbed Elaine by her wrist and started to drag out of the dressing room. Elaine yelped as Darcie quickly dragged her into the hallway laughing happily at the image of Elaine in the costume she had in mind.

Thursday Morning…

Jonathan was never really artistic; the mask he made was a testament to that statement. However, today he felt artistic and what better way to let that creativity out was to design a special room for a special someone. True, he'd never done interior decorating before, but it didn't look that hard from what they do on HGTV and all those home improvement shows. If a scrawny little bimbo can handle a nail gun like a pro, it would be a cinch for the Scarecrow.

The first thing Johnny needed to do was figure out where this special room was going to be. The basement? Nah. It seemed too cliché and a little too much like Silence of the Lambs. Besides, Polly, the last girl they had almost escaped from there, can't have their special guest leaving too soon now. Where else? There was that one room on the second floor that wasn't used for anything besides storage near their bedrooms. Perfect. She would be close by at night in case she tries to escape or if one of them wanted a late night…snack. Now that Johnny had the location, it was time for him to get to work.

12 hours later…

In about 12 hours, fifteen trips to fifteen different Sears stores, fifty trips to fifty different Home Depots, one to a Lowe's (Home Depot didn't have the right metal bars he was looking for), and one too many trips to the Pleasure Chest (same one, they didn't care that the Scarecrow was stealing their stuff), Johnny was finally finished with the room. There was just one thing left to make this room complete, but him and the Joker were picking that up tomorrow night. Satisfied with the now complete room, he walked down the stairs to recline on the couch with a glass of red wine in one hand and a psychology journal in the other. Unfortunately for Johnny, the Joker was currently lounging on said couch watching the Gotham News. Well there was the nice recliner chair, that'd work for now.

Once the Joker noticed Johnny boy had finally left the room they used to use for storage, he had to ask what he was doing. He knew it was probably something for Elaine, even though he was fine with her just being in the basement like that one girl, Molly or something like that, but the Joker did see Johnny boy's logic. The room was up on the second floor, so she couldn't escape, unless she wanted to break her legs in the process. The room was in between his room and Johnny boy's so they could hear her if she tried to escape and it was convenient when one of them had a late night urge. They could walk a few feet instead of going down two flights of stairs and back when they were done. "So, what's were you doing in the storage room all day, Johnny boy?" Joker inquired.

"Oh, just preparing the room for our little songbird." Jonathan smirked, thinking of the layout and décor of the room he had just finished. "It's all ready to go." he added. "So by all means go look for yourself at my awesome interior designing skills." he gestured to the stairs leading to the bedrooms.

Out of curiosity, the Joker obliged with Johnny's request and moseyed up the stairs to examine Johnny's 'awesome interior designing skills.' He opened the door to the room, noticing that you needed a key on both sides to open the door. 'Smart move Johnny boy.' Joker mused. When he saw the inside of the room and how it was set up, he couldn't help but grin maliciously and laugh his little black heart out. It was perfect. It was like a Chuckie Cheese for perverted adults like himself and Johnny boy. Oh, all the fun they were going to have with Elaine. He was pleased immensely; he had to give props to Johnny boy's mad interior designing skills.

Maybe they shouldn't wait until tomorrow night to get their little guest. No. Not tonight. He had to do it tomorrow, he had to make the kidnapping of the Light of Gotham very dramatic and theatrical and what better way than to do it the way he was thinking of doing it. But in order to do it, the way he wanted, he'd need to get some supplies from Maroni. Which is why he was meeting with the Italian tonight at the Iceberg. He looked at his wrist watch and noticed that it was time for him to leave to go meet with Maroni. He took one last look around the special room, giggling to himself and looking like a little kid the day before Christmas as he left the room to head to the car waiting outside for him.

"Where are you headed off to?" Johnny asked as Joker walked through the living room to get to the front door. The Joker opened the door but before he headed out to the car he turned to face Johnny boy.

"I'm off to the Iceberg to talk to the Italian to get some supplies for tomorrow." Joker explained, slightly agitated. He didn't really like it when someone would ask him questions like 'where are you going?' or 'what are you doing?'. It really wasn't anyone's business as to what he was doing or where he was going. Usually he'd kill the guy who asked him such a stupid question, but, he'd let it slide this once since it was Johnny who put him in such a good mood with that wonderful room he created.

"Oh. Ok, have fun with that." Johnny said. With that, Joker turned around and started heading toward the car waiting on the street in front of the yard. "Oh!" Johnny hollered out before the door closed. "Get some milk while you're out." The Joker was about to run in and tell Johnny boy to get his own fucking milk, but unfortunately, he was on a tight schedule. He'd have to wait until he came back to beat the shit out of Johnny for asking him something as stupid as getting some milk while he was out.

Polly didn't really want to go into what used to be the storage room to see what Johnny did to it to make the Joker look like a kid who just got his first bike on Christmas morning. But she was morbidly curious like any person would be. So she mustered up as much courage as could and walk through the door. (Since she's a ghost, she could do that, duh.) About ten seconds later, she was back on the other side of the door, wide eyed with fear and shock. She was afraid not for herself, but for poor Elaine. If those things in there were what she thinks they were used for, it was going to be a lot harder to get Elaine out of there alive. The stuff in there made the months she spent as the Joker and Scarecrow's captive look like a nice little slumber party with her high school friends. Apparently her kidnapping wasn't premeditated or at least as well as they have been for Elaine. Boy, Polly was going to have her work cut out for her, that's for sure.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Darcie had dragged Elaine into the her dressing room, she ran over to a large trunk that was sitting against the wall next to her vanity and began to dig through the pile of costumes in the trunk, every so often throwing something out of the way and hitting Elaine in the face. While humming the song Popular from Wicked.

If there's one thing Darcie Gray loved the most, besides dancing for the Gotham Opera, it was giving people makeovers and helping them get all dolled up for a party. Darcie was such the girly girl compared to Elaine. Elaine, when she wasn't on stage, only dressed for comfort. Occasionally she would wear something that would be pretty for a party or other special occasions when it was called for, but most of the time you would find Elaine wearing a pair of blue jeans, a tank top or a t-shirt, a pair of chucks or her knee high platform boots, and, when the weather was colder, her "Soprano 4 Life" hoodie her mother got her a few years back/

"Aha," yelled out Darcie as she found the two costumes she wanted to see Elaine try on. She rose up with the two costumes in hand and gave one of them to Elaine.

"Try this one on and see how it fits while I find the accessories that go with both of these costumes. Ok? Hurry up now! Chop, chop!" Darcie exclaimed as she pushed Elaine over to the where the red folding screen was in the corner of the dressing room. Once Darcie got Elaine behind the screen, she went back to the trunk to search for the accessories that went with both of the costumes.

There were a few moments of silence, except for the occasional zipper or ruffle of fabric, before Darcie was wondering what was taking Elaine so long with the costume. Hopefully she didn't strangle herself or anything bad like that. Darcie looked over at the screen and called out, "Elaine? You ok over there?"

There was a pause between them then finally Elaine responded faintly, "…I'm fine."

"Ok. If you're done getting that costume on, I want you to come out and show me what it looks like on you." Darcie commanded as she found the stockings that go with the costume Elaine had yet to try on in the bottom of the trunk.

"Um… I don't think it fits," Elaine replied, sounding embarrassed and like a shy little school girl.

It was amazing to Darcie that Elaine could run out on stage in front of a full house of people in nothing but a bikini with no problem, but she couldn't go out in public to a party in a costume that probably covered her up nicely and yet made her look sexy at the same time. She probably wasn't going to be anywhere near as slutty looking as some of the bimbos that go to these parties did with their mobster boyfriends.

"Oh come on Elaine, it can't be that bad. Come on out and let me see," After a few seconds, an exasperated sigh came out from the other side of the screen and then came out Elaine. When Darcie saw Elaine, her jaw dropped in shock at how gorgeous she looked. Darcie meant for the costume to be funny. Elaine was wearing a French maid costume, funny since she's French but damn. The black and white dress came to mid thigh on Elaine; it had clear straps that made the dress look even sexier, a pair of sheer arm bands, a black choker, a white headband, and a pair of black stockings that went up slightly above the knee with white bows on the tops. Elaine even had her chocolate brown hair down and cascading making her look even sexier, but not slutty.

"Wow, Elaine you look amazing. If you don't have at least ten phone numbers by the first hour, we might be going to a gay night club. If I were a guy, I'd totally try to get you into the sack with me. Or at least get you to clean my room for me." Darcie laughed, getting up and walking over to Elaine to help adjust the costume a tidbit.

"I don't' know Darcie." she replied shyly. "It's not that I don't like it, I just feel a little bare, especially since it is cold outside and all that." she explained. It was getting pretty cold outside and Elaine wasn't very tolerant of the cold. Her family came from Nice, France where the lowest it usual gets is around 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months. Gotham can get down to the teens in the winter months and it was still cold at night during the spring months. Brrr.

"Don't you have something that has sleeves…and a longer skirt," Elaine asked.

Darcie, always prepared, gave Elaine the costume she just had in her hand. Then she had an idea. "Wait," she stopped Elaine from changing into the other costume. Elaine turned around to see what she wanted.

"Before you change into the other costume, let me take a picture of you in the French maid costume." she held up her little camera to emphasize her point.

Elaine looked slightly confused as to why in the world Darcie would want a picture of her in a French maid costume.

"Why," Elaine asked.

"I want to put it up on Facebook so I can show everyone that you actually wore a sexy French maid costume. Plus there's a guy that I think you'd like in my Pilates class, so I'm going to show him this pic tomorrow before class." Darcie turned back to the trunk and grabbed a feather duster from it and threw it at Elaine.

"I appreciate the thought, Darcie, but I don't think that's necessary," Elaine shyly said a blush on her cheeks.

Darcie grinned from ear to ear when she saw Elaine blushing, "Ooooooooo, does somebody have a boyfriend? Ooo! Details woman! What's his name, what's he do, and where did you meet him?"

Elaine blushed even more and meekly replied, "He's not my boyfriend…just a guy that I happened to briefly meet at a music store."

"Awww," Darcie gushed. "That's so cute! Well then these pics are for him! Now, act like you're cleaning something but do it sexy like but no duck face!"

"Ok," Elaine sighed. She stood next to the folding screen she just came out of a little sideways to the camera, put the duster on the screen, put one hand on her hip, bent the knee furthest away from the camera, gave a "come hither" look, and even pushed her tush out a little. She looked like one of those pin-up girls that guys drooled over all the time.

Darcie finally snapped some photos on her camera, looked over them to make sure she didn't cut off Elaine's head or stuck her finger out. Once she was satisfied with the pictures she had taken, she put her camera back into her little purse and made a little "Yay!" sound and started humming again. Taking this as her cue to go back behind the folding screen, Elaine grabbed the costume Darcie handed her before and headed behind the folding screen.

A few more ruffles of fabric, zips of some zippers, and a few silent curse words, in French, at the stockings to get on her legs without ripping, Elaine finally had the second costume on. Knowing Darcie would drag her out if she didn't come out on her own, Elaine stepped out from behind the screen once again to let Darcie see her in this costume.

When Darcie saw Elaine in this costume, she couldn't help her jaw when it dropped. "Is there anything this girl can't where that won't make her look like a super model," she thought.

Elaine, uncomfortable with the suddenly mute Darcie, finally broke the silence. "Well?" Darcie was speechless, which made Elaine think that she didn't like it. "Ok, I'll go take it off." she dejectedly said as she went to go take it off the dress.

Darcie finally found her voice. "No, no! It's not bad at all, Elaine. It's astonishing on you. Really, go look for yourself." she said as she grabbed a hold of Elaine and took her to her full length mirror. In the mirror Elaine saw a woman wearing a black and burgundy brocade dress that, like the last costume, comes up to her mid-thigh with ruffled sleeves that went to her elbow, with two bows on the skirt, one on each arm, and one large one on the chest. Her chest was more pronounced in this costume, but at least this one had sleeves. She also had on fishnet stockings that came up slightly above the knees and had two black bows with cameo brooches in the center of the bows.

"You know, with you in this costume I totally would go lesbo for you." Elaine looked back at Darcie with a look that said 'Have you gone completely bonkers?' which only made Darcie fall out of the chair she was sitting in laughing her head off. Once she got over her laughing fit, she got back up in the chair, looked over at Elaine again, "You sure you're not the reincarnate of Marie Antoinette?"

Elaine laughed. "If I was, I would most definitely not let you eat any cake." she replied with mock seriousness.

"Ooooo, this girl has a bit of sassyness," Darcie broke into laughter and even Elaine laughed.

Once the laughing fest between the two was over, Darcie went over to her vanity and pulled out something from her jewelry box, then went over to her armoire and grabbed a pair of black peep-toe pumps and a small black ruffled piece of clothing Elaine couldn't make out what it was.

"There's just a few things missing that we must fix before you can grace your subjects with your royal sexiness," Darcie explained.

"Here," She handed Elaine a cameo on a silk black chocker that looked like the ones on the stockings, but this one wasn't a cheap fake, this was the real deal. Elaine put the chocker around her neck and held up her hair so Darcie could tie the chocker in the back.

Once the chocker was tied, Darcie handed Elaine the shoes and the black ruffled thing that was in her hand. It turned out the thing was a pair of ruffled pantaloons. When Elaine looked at Darcie questionably, Darcie shrugged and whispered in her ear, "I don't think they had French flag panties back then, sweetie," she chuckled.

Whoops. Elaine had totally forgotten she was wearing those and with this dress, she was bound to give more than a few guys a good peak at the French colors. Embarrassed, Elaine took the pantaloons and put them on over top her French panties. Once the pantaloons were on, she went over to vanity, sat down, and put on the pumps.

"Now, I don't have the wig to this ensemble." Darcie told Elaine as she grabbed the brush and a few other hair products from her vanity. "But since your hair is pretty damn long, I think I can make something close to it, but simple and quick since we have to leave soon. I'm thinking just a simple bump on the top of your head, then put some bobby pins in, maybe a pretty barrette, and curl the hair that's left flowing into ringlets with the curling iron. Simple, but still somewhat in that time period. Alright?"

Elaine had just finished putting her peep-toe pumps on, lifting her head and looking in the mirror she imagined what Darcie had in mind. She liked it, simple, elegant, and fast. She was surprised her cell phone wasn't ringing out of her purse. Surely her bodyguards were wondering where she was. She told them she'd meet them in the green room, (place where actors hang out and wait for their cue to go on stage.) but then she remembered; the green room had an X-Box in there and her meat-headed bodyguards would be in there playing football or some war game. They probably wouldn't even notice her leaving for another hour, maybe longer. Jeez, a pack of wild baboons could do a better job protecting her than the meatheads. Tragic.

"Yeah, I like that," Elaine smiled as Darcie hummed Popular while working on her hair.

Sneaking out of the opera house was actually pretty easy for Elaine and Darcie. It was too easy actually. They even walked past the green room to see if Elaine's bodyguards would notice. As Elaine predicted, they were so involved in the video game that they didn't even notice. Again, tragic. Elaine did feel a little guilty for not telling them where they were going to she went into her dressing room and wrote a quick note telling them where she was and that she or the other girls would call them if anything happens or when she was ready to go home. Once she finished the note, she felt guilt free and she and Darcie left the opera house.

Knowing from pretty much a very young age that it was never safe for two women to be walking the streets by themselves and taxis weren't much better at night, they opted to go through a little traffic and to pay to park in the parking garage near the club. They drove there in Darcie's little yellow Volkswagen Beetle, listening to sounds of Flogging Molly, David Bowie, and even singing along with Queen to Bohemian Rhapsody like they did in Wayne's World, but not too much head banging since Elaine's hair might fall out of the hair do Darcie made it if they did.

Once they were parked in the garage and at the entrance of the Iceberg, Elaine and Darcie were greeted by three of Darcie's friends from the opera house who were apparently standing there waiting for them to show up.

"Wow Darcie! Look at that, you actually got Elaine to come here and party with us?" Abby asked in mock shock. "And look at her costume, I bet she gets lucky tonight." They all giggled as Abby made some pelvic thrusts in Elaine's direction and Elaine turned beet red. Abby's a mezzo soprano in the show (she plays Flora) who has pink hair that was in a bob now, piercings all over her body, (she puts wigs on and takes out her piercings for shows) and was wearing a pink 60s Go Go outfit complete with the boots and pink tinted glasses.

"Yeah, it must of took a lot of begging, pleading, and, finally, commanding to get her out and about." Mandy commented. She was one of the costume designer's assistants and worked on a lot of the costumes that Elaine wore during her shows. Mandy when you first meet her, seems to be extremely shy and nerdy (she wears really thick glasses), but once you got to know her, she was the funniest and raunchiest woman you ever met; she could make a prostitute blush like a school girl with some of her comments and jokes. She was wearing a Playboy bunny costume and contacts instead of her thick glasses, which surprised Elaine. She actually looked good in the costume.

"Well, I think you're very brave to come out in the public." Jo Ann praised Elaine. "If I were in your shoes, I would have gone to France and stayed there for good where the Joker and Scarecrow would never go and find me." Jo Ann was a soprano who played Annina (Elaine's maid in the show), she looked like an Amazonian or at least Tyra Banks, she was dark skinned, extremely tall, and super skinny. If she wanted to, she could go and become a very successful supermodel, but Gotham was her home and singing was her passion. Her costume was the outfit that Beyonce wore in the Single Ladies music video, the leotard that had only one sleeved side, with the glove and gauntlet on her left hand. What made it funny was that as they were standing there, a few guys had the same outfit on as Jo Ann, like they were going to do the SNL skit that aired not too long ago with Justin Timberlake.

"Thanks, Jo Ann," Elaine said, expressing her gratitude.

Darcie then noticed a cold breeze had kicked up, sending goosebumps up and down her arms. "As much fun as it is to stand out here and freeze our butts off, I'd rather go inside and party it off instead," She started to lead the group into the night club.

"Here, here!" One of the girls yelled as they strutted into the club getting ready to have a good time.

Just as the ladies had made through the doors of the club, a white van came flying by almost missing the turn into the back street that would take behind the nightclub. Dodging a bunch of expensive looking sports cars barely, it finally screeched to a halt in a parking spot near the back entrance that was meant for someone who was handicapped. Of course the driver of said van didn't give a hoot about that; he actually took two parking spots with the gigantic van.

Now who would be the crazy maniac driver who's so cruel as to take up two handicapped parking spots, probably making some poor millionaire grandpa, who wanted to get lucky one last time, limp 30 feet more than he needed to get to the entrance? That would be the Joker, of course, who currently was getting out of said van with three henchmen. Originally, there were five henchmen. One of them accidentally sneezed on the Joker, then was killed and used as a tissue to wipe the spit and snot off of the Joker's suit. The other henchman wasn't driving fast enough for the Joker (which apparently is pedal to the metal) and was promptly killed so the Joker could drive.

The Joker's driving is almost as scary as him having a blade to your mouth…almost. Put it this way, he makes Bo and Luke from the Dukes of Hazzard look like two grannies behind the wheel. It's pure luck that none of the surviving henchmen hadn't puked or wet themselves on the way to the nightclub.

Once out of the van, Joker headed to the back entrance of the nightclub. He wanted to go through the front entrance and make a theatrical entrance into the nightclub, but he thought better of it. He was just here to get supplies and information the Italian, Maroni, who actually survived the car crash the Joker's little ace in the hole, Denty-poo, caused by killing the driver. The Italian made it out with only a bump on the head and a few broken bones. Lucky bastard.

Anyway, once the Joker got what he wanted he was going to get up and get out, after all there wasn't anything very interesting about nightclubs anyway, or so he thought then.

Once inside the club, the Joker made his was up the staircase in the back to get to where Maroni's reserved tables were. This is usually where Maroni would hang out and do business deals; it had a good view of the stage and dance floor on the ground floor (think of it being like a balcony type of seating in a theater.) As soon as the Joker made it up the stairs, he easily spotted Maroni with Marco, his twenty three year old brat. Marco was a spitting image of his father, except he was taller, didn't have grey hair, his was pulled back into a long ponytail and raven black, and he was obviously well toned from what the Joker could tell from his semi-open shirt. Joker sauntered over to their table, only when he reached the table and sat did they notice him.

"Evening, Maroni." Joker greeted in that low and ominous way that would send most people running away scared. He then noticed something different about Maroni. He wasn't wearing his traditional suit and tie as usual. He was wearing a…priest robe? Then his son, Marco, looked like he was wearing a black and gold Renaissance pretty boy costume. Now that he looked around, everyone was wearing some sort of costume. Was it Halloween? No, it wasn't even close to that holiday. "I didn't get the memo that this was supposed to be a costumed meeting, Maroni." he commented. "If I knew that, I would have dressed up like Batsy."

"Well, you couldn't get in if you weren't in costume tonight." Obviously they thought the Joker was some sick and twisted dude in a Joker costume with some friends in clown masks. "Besides the Maroni family likes to go to a costume party every so often. Don't we Marco," Maroni looked over at his son.

Marco shrugged in response, starring down at the crowd on the dance floor. Maroni ignored it for now, "Now, what business do you have with us, Joker?"

"Oh, the usual. Scarecrow and I need the usual "supplies" for a party we're throwing tomorrow night. Also I need some information," Joker explained nonchalantly.

Maroni eyed the Joker suspiciously, "I can get you the supplies by tomorrow morning, same place as usual. What kind of party are we talking about here?"

"Well, it's kind of a surprise. Don't want to ruin it, ya know," the Joker licked his lips/scars and giggled.

Somehow Maroni knew that it involved that one soprano everyone's been talking about. Word on the street was that the Joker and Scarecrow had a thing for her and wanted her for themselves. Not that he could blame them, she had one smoking hot body and a voice to match it. Marco first saw the young singer after Maroni's wife dragged them both to the opera. After the show at the after party, he tried to charm Elaine like he usually would any other girl, but she shot him down. That never happened to Marco before and ever since he's been trying to woo her with no avail. Which is probably the reason why he was glaring at the clown now. She'd be good for Marco, if she ever gave in to his charms. Even though she was technically French, but hey, she'd be a good wife for Marco and he could finally settle down and actually start to learn the family business. She may also have connections to the French mafia somehow, that would be some good business and alliances there. At the least now, he was going to the opera house and getting some culture instead of always hitting up the clubs and acting like those douchebags on that damn Jersey Shore show.

"Fine, whatever. What kind of information do you need?" Maroni inquired.

The Joker then looked at Maroni seriously. That kind of scared Maroni a little bit. The clown was truly unpredictable, one minute he's dying of laughter, the next he's staring at you like a lion about to pounce its prey, "I need the blueprints to the Gotham Opera House and the script to the opera they're doing with stage directions, set designs, yada yada ya. You get the point."

Then something happened that surprised the Joker for maybe a second at the most. Marco leaped over the table, pounce on the Joker, and started to punch the hell out of him. The Joker apparently hit a nerve with the brat. The Joker was full out laughing. He liked this kid, he was too funny. Marco didn't like being laughed at by the Joker, he was angry and he sucker-punched the Joker right in the stomach. It only quieted the Joker down to giggles but it was good enough for Marco.

Marco got up, picked up the Joker, shoved him into the wall, looked right into the Joker's eyes and growled, "Now you listen to me. You and the fucking Scarecrow can fuck with any of the girls in Gotham you want, except Elaine DuMont. She's mine. You got that clown? Elaine is mine. Leave her alone, or else," he looked down at the laughing clown underneath him.

"Freak," Marco insulted Joker, still pushing him into the wall.

Once the Joker heard insult, he stopped laughing immediately, meaning that he was mad. Uh-oh. Who did this brat think he was to tell him that the girl wasn't his? She wasn't Marco's. She was his, he already laid claim on her. Stupid fucking brat. He stared straight up at Marco, his face void of emotion, like a shark. Marco just realized he made a big mistake, a really big mistake. Then with the agility of a cougar, the Joker got out from Marco's grasp, tossed Marco off of him, and then had Marco pinned to the floor with Joker's favorite knife at his throat. Maroni couldn't do anything but stare in agony as his son was pinned under the Joker with a knife at his throat.

"Didn't your father teach you any manners, hmm," the Joker asked. Knowing the brat was speechless, he continued. "Listen here, I don't know where you got that silly idea in your head that, uh, my little songbird was yours, but you really need to get that little thought out of your head. Ya see, I get what I want. Always. And I don't mind letting a few heads roll on the way. So I recommend that you stay out of my way. Got it," He bent his head down closer to Marco's, ready to tell him how he got his scars, "Aw, now why so serious, Marco?"

Marco, knowing he just made the biggest mistake of his life, just stared up at the Joker trying to put up a front that he wasn't afraid of the Joker, but the Joker could see the flicker of fear in Marco eyes.

"Hey, Joker. I'll get you your supplies and information by midnight tonight. Just spare my son and you'll get it by then, please," Maroni pleaded, not wanting to see his son's blood be spilt.

Joker looked over to Maroni and was about to tell him he was doing him a favor by killing the brat, but something -someone- interrupted his train of thought.

_Now let the day just slip away _

_So the dark night may watch over you_

_Velvet blue silent true _

_It embraces your heart and your soul _

_Nocturne_

He recognized that voice. He got up off from Marco and went to see where that voice was coming from. Who he saw singing on the stage made him laugh. Seriously, what were the chances that he would get to see Elaine sing at the Iceberg? And my, did she look so delicious in that lovely dress singing. Well, well, well. Since Johnny boy had his chance to talk to her, why not take that chance as well and show the soon-to-be dead-if-he-lays-a finger-on-his-Elaine, a.k.a Marco, that she was his. Oh, the mind games he was going to play with Elaine, maybe he'd even get to second base with her. But first, he had to get rid of make-up. He figured that he couldn't just walk up to her in his suit and make-up. No, she would run away like a little frightened rabbit, or at least try to. He had to be sneaky, sneaky, put her into a false sense of security and then spring the trap.

He went to the staircase to go down to get his make-up off and play some games with Elaine, but before he descended the staircase he looked over at Maroni and said to him, "Have the supplies at the Gotham Harbor, Pier 13 by midnight."

Then he looked over at Marco, who was still stunned on the ground, "Be lucky that I've spared your pathetic life…for now. Remind me to tell you how I got my scars. Ok? Chao."

He flashed them both a toothy, yet very evil looking smile and went down the staircase off to search for the perfect costume and to play with his songbird laughing his head off all the way down with his henchmen following him like little duckies.


	8. Chapter 8

The Iceberg was a pretty nifty nightclub. It really looked like you were inside a winter wonderland but not freezing your butt off like you really were. There were even real live winter animals like penguins, seals and polar bears on display around the club. And the best part, for Elaine at least, was the fact that there were no meatheads (her pet name for her bodyguards) around making a hoopla about her safety and making it extremely obvious to everyone else who she was, and that there was no paparazzi there. Elaine could let her hair down (not really or else Darcie would kill her for messing up her hair), dance, have some fun with her new friends, and forget about her troubles with the show coming up and of course Joker and the Scarecrow. Even if it was for just a little while. Unfortunately, Elaine hadn't even taken 10 steps into the club before a short lil fat man with a beak like nose in a sharp tuxedo, top hat, and umbrella waddled up to her.

"Why, if it isn't the Light of Gotham!" the lil fat man squawked. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Dumont. I'm Oswald Cobblepot, the owner of the Iceberg Lounge." He stated as he took her hand and kissed it with his dry, chapped lips. "And I must say, I'm quite a fan of your work Ms. Dumont. I was enthralled by how you played the part of Mimi in La Boheme last season. Very enthralled indeed." He smiled a toothy smile still holding onto Elaine's hand as she stood there baffled while Darcie and the other girls snickered at the lil bird like man.

"Umm….Thank you Mr. Cobblepot…" she said as she tugged her hand out of his almost wing like hand. "It's nice to hear from the fans of my work…" Elaine stepped back a little since the man was like way too close to her for the comfort of her personal bubble. The other girls were too busy trying to hold in their laughter at the lil old fat bird like man who was obviously flirting with Elaine.

Mr. Cobblepot beamed at her reply. "Oh the pleasure is all mine Ms. Dumont and please call me Oswald. Oh it would be such an honor if you would sing for us. Tonight is our costume karaoke theme night." Costume Kara-what? Of all the nights Elaine could have come, she had to come to the karaoke night. Of course everyone was going to expect her to sing since she's the "Prima Donna" of Gotham. She couldn't sing with the show tomorrow night, she had to save her voice and all she wanted to do now was just have a good time and not have to sing or be the "Light," "Prima Donna," or what have you of Gotham.

"That's very kind of you to ask Mr. Cobblepot, but I'm afraid I have to decline the offer. I need to save my voice for tomorrow night. I have to give a good performance for opening night. I don't want to disappoint anyone," She gently replied to his offer. "Perhaps some other time during the off season I-," She began but was interrupted but the strange little bird man.

"Oh but you must sing at least one song, please Ms. Dumont! I know there are many fans of yours here tonight that would love to hear you sing at least one song. It would be an honor to have the lovely Elaine Dumont sing here in the Iceberg Lounge. Please Ms. Dumont!" He squawked, begging and pleading. It was pretty pathetic and it didn't help when Elaine's friends started to try to coax her too.

"Oh come on Elaine, it'll be fun! You can sing that one song you didn't get to sing for the charity event we did earlier this week," Darcie tried sweet talking Elaine and they all started chiming in. It finally got too much for Elaine and she finally caved in. "Alright, alright! I'll do it. But just one song alright. One and that's it."

Mr. Cobblepot practically jumped for joy. "Splendid!" he squawked as he waddled over to the DJ to let him know what was going on. He then motioned for Elaine to come over to the DJ where she told him what song she was singing. The DJ nodded and handed her a microphone. He told her to go ahead and hop on up to the stage. When Elaine was getting up on the stage, the DJ made a cheesy intro with something to do about the "Songstress of Gotham," he dimmed the lights on the stage except for a single spotlight once Elaine got up the steps safely, and started to play the music. Elaine grasped the microphone and walked into the spotlight and began to sing.

_Now let the day just slip away _

_So the dark night may watch over you_

_Velvet blue silent true_

_It embraces your heart and your soul_

_Nocturne_

_Never cry _

_Never sigh_

_You don't have to wonder why_

_Always be always see_

_Come and dream the night with me_

_Nocturne_

_Have no fear when the night draws near_

_And fills you with dreams and desire_

_Like a child asleep_

_So warm so deep_

_You will find me there waiting for you_

_Nocturne_

_We will fly _

_Claim the sky_

_We don't have to wonder why_

_Always be always see_

_Come and dream the night with me_

_Nocturne_

_Though darkness fades_

_It will give way_

_When the dark night delivers the day_

_Nocturne_

Once Elaine finished the song there was a roar of applause. Sure there were a few people that were kind of confused at the words "dark night" and thought she was maybe singing about the Dark Knight aka Batman, especially since a few of the people there wanted to kill the Batman. But, a lot of them let it slide since she was pretty and she was a good singer.

Elaine took a couple of bows and went to go down the steps where, not surprising to Elaine more annoying, Marco was waiting offering to help her down the stairs. Nope, she wasn't surprised one bit to see that party boy at one of the hottest nightclubs. He was also part of the Maroni family, which happened to be one of the patron families that gave a lot of money to the Gotham Opera House. So in order to keep her job, she had to play nice with any member of the Maroni…including Marco. Even though she tried her best to gently tell him she wasn't interested in being his next conquest, every time he saw her he tried his best to charm her but Elaine didn't have to be psychic to see through him (although it did help being a medium and the plethora of gossipy ghosts who aired out tons of dirty laundry to her about the living).

"Il mio angelo bello, you sang wonderfully as usual," Marco said as he took her hand and kissed it lightly before helping her down the steps.

"Thank you," Elaine thanked Marco kindly but not enough that he would think she was flirting with him in anyway, kind of how you would thank a person you were on good terms with but not overly too friendly with. But as usual, he took it as her flirting with him.

Marco didn't let go of Elaine's hand once she was down the stairs, instead he held onto it with both of his hands, putting her hand to his chest, and got closer to her. "Let me buy you a drink, bella," he said.

Elaine sighed, here they go again. She pulled made up the excuse, "Marco, I appreciate the offer but I can't and I have to get back to my friends."

"No you don't," pipped in a voice. Elaine looked and saw Darcie, smiling, "you two go have fun, I'm sure you're in safe hands with Marco."

"See? Let's go get some drinks and dance," smiled Marco as he led Elaine to the bar. Elaine looked back at Darcie and gave a "help me" look but Darcie just smiled and waved. Elaine had to remember to get back at Darcie for abandoning her with Marco. Some friend she turned out to be.

Unbeknownst to Elaine, a set of dark eyes watched her closely, his face hidden by a white fedora and makeup wiped off clean.

It was actually pretty easy for the Joker to find a costume that fit his needs. He just grabbed a man who had a Michael Jackson costume on (the one from Smooth Criminal), "escorted" him to the restroom and "asked" if he could "borrow" his costume. Of course the man happily gave him the costume. In fact he was grinning ear to ear that the Joker was using what was his costume. After changing, Joker look into the mirror and began to wipe off his make-up to look less noticeable to the public. Sure he got a couple of stares here and there when he went out without his face on, but he usually goes unseen. If he wanted to meet his little songbird and play a few games with her tonight, he was going to have disguise himself for now. After tomorrow night, however, she would be his and he wouldn't have to put on a disguise.

Once he finished, he went back into the club. Luckily, all his henchmen had to do was take off their masks and they didn't stick out like sore thumbs. He watched as his songbird stood up on stage singing, unaware of who was watching her. It made him giggle when he thought of the odds of them being at the same nightclub. And he was surprised when he noticed she didn't have the multitude of bodyguards around keeping her "safe" from the big bad Joker and Scarecrow.

"So, she gave the bodyguards the slip, what a naughty little songbird you are…." Joker thought as he formed his plan of attack to snare his prey. He'd let her go of course, he'd catch her and keep her for good tomorrow when there's more people around and he could be more dramatic.

Just as he was pondering and observing his surroundings, that Italian brat, Marco, had the audacity to go and flirt with his songbird. If he wasn't on Joker's shit-list before, he was on the top now. It wasn't even 5 minutes ago, he had that spoiled brat pinned and ready to get a permanent grin. He had to get his songbird away from that bastard quick. But how?

Then it came to Joker and he smirked, watching Marco take Elaine to the bar, "I told you little boy, I get what I want," he said to himself as he made his way over to the bar.

Once the lights came back on and the DJ started playing dance music. Elaine was sitting with a glass of water at the bar with Marco while he sits next to her with a scotch on the rocks. She was looking around the bar watching people dancing and singing karaoke, some were pretty good while there were some people who were just plain bad probably because they were drunk. Marco was talking about something or another but Elaine was only half listening.

"Elaine?" Marco called as he grabbed Elaine's hand, bringing her attention back to Marco.

"Hmmm?"

Marco rubbed his thumb across the top of Elaine's hand, "I asked if you wanted to dance bella?"

"Um, sure Marco. I just need to powder my nose really quick." Elaine replied as she pulled out of Marco's grip and scurried off to the ladies' room. As Elaine walked off and Marco watched her leave, a hand dripped a couple of drops of a clear substance into Marco's drink and slipped back into the crowd. Marco not knowing the drink was laced, drank the rest of his drink as he waited for Elaine.

Minutes later, when Elaine came back Marco didn't look too hot anymore. "Marco? Are you ok?" Elaine asked as she sat next to the sickly looking Italian. Sure she didn't like him very much but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned about him. Poor guy must have drank too much.

"Yes, I'm all happiness and sunshine. Of course I'm not ok." He quipped, then stopped, turned, and puked on a waitress's skirt who's unlucky enough to be walking past. "Shit…" Marco mumbled as he laid his head on the table.

Elaine got him a water and a napkin to wipe off his mouth off."Go home, Marco," she patted his back, "Go home and get some rest. C'mon, I'll help you to your car." Elaine said as she attempted to help him get up. He got up and they walked to the front entrance where Marco's driver drove up to the curb of the club. Elaine opened the door and helped Marco into the car. "Get some rest Marco."

"Yeah. Thank you, Elaine. I'll see you tomorrow," he mumbled. Elaine closed the door, the car drove off, and Elaine went back inside the club to look for her friends. Perhaps it was time for them to get going home as well.


End file.
